House Passes Harmful Labor Mandates

AGC urged action against several amendments to the House of Representative’s version National Defense Authorization Act (House NDAA) bill that would negatively impact military construction contractors. Among other things, these amendments would:
 
• Require prime contractors and subcontractors to be licensed in the state of the military construction project;
•  Establish local hiring preferences; and
• Impose subjective criteria into the suspension and debarment process that would make it easier to blacklist contractors, among others.
 
AGC also fought for the inclusion of beneficial amendments, such as the AGC backed bipartisan bill—Small Business Payment for Performance Act—that will require agencies to pay upfront at least a portion of directed change orders. The House NDAA passed (329 - 101) on July 15. The Senate has yet to bring its version of the NDAA to the floor to vote on amendments. Congress has passed the NDAA for about 60 consecutive years and it is considered must-pass legislation, which is why AGC is taking seriously any attempt to add harmful construction policy to it. AGC will continue to advocate for contractor priorities as the House and Senate work to a final NDAA. 

For more information, contact Jordan Howard at Jordan.Howard@agc.org or (703) 837-5368